The Possibility in the Partners
by RositaLG
Summary: A Christmas oneshot written for Dispatch22705 as part of Biba79's Secret Santa Exchange.


**A/N: This little fic was written for Dispatch22705 as part of Biba79's Secret Santa Fic Exchange. Surprise! :D I knew why B gave me your name as soon as I read your exclusions. I laughed out loud when I read: No babies. Yay for that. Because we were just talking about missing the possibilities that the show used to have, consider this Season 4's missing Christmas ep. Takes place after Fire in the Ice. I hope that you enjoy!**

**OOOOO**

"Whatcha doin?" Booth asked as he snuck up behind her. Brennan jumped a mile and slammed her laptop lid.

"Booth!" She cried in frustration and surprise. "You know that I appreciate your quiet feet in the field, but it would be nice if you could make some form of noise when entering my office." She requested.

"But if I made noise, I wouldn't be able to figure out what you were getting me for Christmas." He pointed out.

"And you're not going to figure it out now." She said.

"Oh come on, Bones! You can't tell me that when you were little, you wouldn't search the house looking for where your parents hid the presents. It's part of the fun!" He grinned. "So…give me a hint." He said as he sidled up close to her.

"No." She said dryly.

"I'll give you a hint about your present." He flashed his best charm smile at her but she only rolled her eyes in response. "It's a good one. You're gonna love it." He sing-songed to her but she refused to cave.

"You are worse than Parker when it comes to anticipating Christmas." She accused but he smiled proudly.

"You know it." He winked.

"I recommend you leave before you don't get a gift at all." She replied.

"Ooh, well played." He said with a wince. It was in his best interest to let her shop in peace.

OOOOO

They had agreed to exchange presents that Friday evening after the Jeffersonian's Christmas party. They had an unspoken agreement that exchanging their gifts should be done in a private setting. So, tipsy from the lab's homemade punch and full of magical Christmas whimsy, Booth escorted Brennan into a cab and up to her apartment. He grinned as she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

"Booth!" She said, completely shocked by the wrapped present on her table.

"Hey, I was with you all day." He said as he held up his hands. "Must have been Santa." He shrugged.

"The last time there was an unmarked package in my kitchen it contained human remains sent from a cannibalistic serial killer who had brainwashed my assistant. If this isn't from you, I will need to find a set of gloves." Despite her matter of fact tone, Booth knew that she was teasing but he cringed anyway.

"Yeah, okay. Maybe the surprise angle wasn't the best idea." He acknowledged. "But you should open it." He said. "Openitopenitopenit." He chanted as he pushed her towards the gift. She grinned at his ridiculously childlike behavior but she reached for the lid of the box. She waded through the many layers of tissue paper to the gift that lay inside.

"Oh." She exhaled as she pulled it out. She turned to look at him in amazement. "Booth, it's beautiful." He had found the necklace in an antique shop that he liked to visit. The minute that he had seen it, he knew that it was made for her. Whatever life it once had, Booth was certain that it had bided its time, waiting for her specific neck to come along. The teardrop shaped sapphire was held in the pendant by perfectly aged silver. It was deceptively simple in its appearance but, once it was examined up close, incredibly intricate in its design.

"Do you like it?" He asked, suddenly feeling like it was too personal, too much, for a partner to give to a colleague. Then again, she had put up with a lot this year. She had saved his life, been kept off of a very important FBI list, fixed his ailing back and most recently, stayed up all night long monitoring his hockey injury. She deserved something nice for her troubles.

"I love it." She said as she clutched it in her hand. "Where did you find it?"

"In an antique shop. It was tucked away in a jewelry case. I saw it and thought that you would like it. Plus, after all that I put you through this past year, you deserve it. Santa knows that you were especially nice."

"Thank you, Booth." She said sincerely.

"You're welcome." He smiled. They caught each other's stare before Brennan realized that she hadn't given him his gift yet.

"Let me get your gift." She said as she stood up quickly. Booth watched as she reappeared with a long, narrow box. He rubbed his hands together before reaching out for the package and setting it in front of him. He gave her a smile as she settled in beside him at the table. He ran a finger along the seam of the wrapping paper and tore open the rest.

"Oh my God." Booth said as he lifted the box from the scraps of paper. "Bones!" He smiled widely. It was a 1982 edition Daisy BB gun. The one that he had desperately wanted as a child, but was never allowed to have.

"Is it the right one?" She asked.

"It's exactly the right one." He said as he pulled it out of the packaging carefully to examine it. It still made his heart race. "I have the perfect place to hang this in my apartment."

"You aren't going to use it?" She frowned.

"Bones, it's over 20 years old. It's an artifact." He grinned. "No, this is going on my wall so I can smile every day as I pass it." She looked like she didn't understand but he just pulled her in for a hug. "I love my present, Bones." He grinned against the side of her face. Brennan smiled proudly, knowing she had chosen correctly.

"I'm glad that you like it." She said as she pulled away. "You made my last Christmas especially memorable. I wanted to return the favor." Booth shrugged.

"Bones, it was Christmas. You guys needed a tree."

"It made our first family Christmas very special." She smiled. "But I also forced you to kiss me under the mistletoe so I could get the trailer and you were very congenial about it." Booth laughed out loud.

"Yeah, because kissing you is such a burden." The words were out of his mouth before he realized that he said them and the small smile on her face told him that there was no going back.

"It was quite nice. You're a very skilled kisser." She informed him, light dancing in her eyes.

"You're pretty skilled yourself." He teased. "Probably not something we should make a habit of doing every year though."

"People talk." She agreed as he noticed that they were a lot closer than they were a few seconds ago. "But we're alone right now and what's between us is ours, right?" Her low, seductive voice was like honey and he involuntarily moved in closer. He nodded slowly before capturing her lips with his. The kiss felt surreptitiously stolen from fate or the universe (depending on which one of them you asked) and Booth knew somewhere in the back of his brain that this would end in complication. There were a thousand reasons why this shouldn't be happening. They were both a little drunk, and she was always more vulnerable than usual this time of year. But God it felt so right. Plus, it was Christmas and he would let that magic take him where it would.

Brennan pulled away first, her eyes wide with surprise and her breathing shallow. If given the chance he would ravish her without thinking twice. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came. Instead, she seemed to throw whatever thoughts she had out the window and pulled him back in for another scorching kiss.

"Bones." He whispered warningly against her lips.

"I know." She said, sounding almost defeated by his disruption of reality. She pulled away enough to look at him.

"I just..." He closed his eyes for a moment. "It's taking everything I have to just sit here. If we keep going, I won't be able to stop."

"What if I don't want you to?" She asked. He could swear he saw the slight tinge of a blush color her pale cheeks. He couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Bones…."

"Because I don't." She confirmed quietly, standing by her statement. "Do you?" She asked him.

"What I want has nothing to do with it. Our entire partnership is on the line. If we were to…you know, go _there_, it would change everything. It's got to mean more than just biological urges. And I know you. You don't like commitment. A couple of months ago you were dating two men and arguing that polygamy was the natural way of life."

"So you don't trust me." She said.

"That's not what I meant." Booth said. "I just don't think that you want what I want."

"And what do you want?" She asked. Booth paused, suddenly wondering the same thing. When he found his answer, he dropped his voice and leaned forward, just an inch. He wanted her to really hear him.

"Everything." He said seriously. He refused to flinch as her eyes scanned his, searching for the truth.

"Elaborate." She said, biding some time to make her decision, but he could see the well-hidden panic at his demand.

"I want everything." He said, not backing down. "I want to wake up next to you every morning and make love to you each night and everything in between. I want you. Not just tonight, or for a few months, or even a few years. It's all or nothing for us Bones. And if that scares you or…" He was cut off by her mouth and he gladly accepted the interruption. She kissed him desperately, like it was the last time she was going to kiss him. He pulled away, knowing what was going to come next.

"I think with my brain, not my heart." She said as she stood up.

"I know." He said.

"I don't believe in marriage."

"I know." He said again, and he saw a flash of frustration at his continued phrase.

"Doesn't that bother you?"

"No."

"Well it should." She said, turning away from him. He gazed at her back, wondering what she was going to say next. She whipped around to face him again. "Why not?"

"Bones…"

"No, we are complete opposites. We don't agree on anything! How can you know all that you know and still want to be with me?"

"I love you." He shrugged. She gave him a look before shaking her head no. "I do. I love you." He repeated. "And that is my trump card." He said. "And yes, you can be infuriating sometimes and we disagree on everything, so what? I would rather fight with you than not have you in my life at all." She stared at him.

"What did you say?" She asked, something he said obviously getting to her.

"I would rather fight with you than not have you in my life at all." He repeated. Just like that, her expression changed. Before he knew why, he was moving towards her. "Bones?"

"I know what you mean." She said. He must have given her a quizzical look because she explained. "I thought you were dead." She didn't have to say anything else. He felt his heart break in his chest for her, just like it did every time he imagined what she must have gone through. He couldn't fathom losing her. "I can't promise you everything." She said. "I'm not that person and I'll never be that person." She informed him. "But I can give you now and maybe…maybe you can use some of that faith you have on me." Booth couldn't fight the tiny smile that appeared on his face.

"Yeah?" She nodded. He grinned as he pulled her in close and kissed her his answer. Years of inhibitions (as well as their clothes) fell by the way side as they finally broke through the last of their last barriers and found each other. Hands met hands and lips met lips as she sank onto her bed, pulling him down and over top of her. She wrapped her legs around him and he groaned in pleasure at how perfectly wet she felt beneath him. He couldn't resist taking a nipple in his mouth and sucking it greedily. The noises that he elicited made him want to stay there forever, but there was more to discover. He scattered kisses randomly over her body, just because he could. His hand ran up the length of her leg before planting a kiss in her inner thigh.

"Please Booth." She begged, requiring more than teasing at the moment. "I need you inside me." If he had any blood left in his brain, it flooded down his spine at her words, rendering him momentarily speechless aside from the low growl that escaped the back of his throat. He held her thigh in his hand, holding her still as he rubbed himself over her clit. He watched as her eyes fluttered shut and she arched up into him. "Oh yes." She cried as the bundle of nerves finally got some attention. "More." She purred. He agreed and he sunk between her legs. He could feel his jaw clench as he was caught up in the disorienting transition from his wildest fantasies to the startling reality that this was actually better. He moved inside her slowly, wanting to memorize every inch of her warm, smooth core.

"Oh Jesus Christ, you feel good." He muttered. It was the understatement of the century, but it was the best he could do in the moment.

"Not as good as you." She promised as she milked him for all that he was worth. Their hips fell into a natural rhythm and before long, he was coaxing her into oblivion. But she pulled him with her and he came hard, splintering inside her.

As he fell to his back, he tried desperately to slow his racing heart. He had nearly succeeded when Bones curled up into him and his heart took off again. He ran his hand over her milky skin on her lower back and she smiled against his chest. He looked down at her, wondering if something had triggered the smile or if she was just happy.

"Even when you have my entire body at your disposal, your hand still finds its way to my lower back." She teased.

"Habit." He said, not removing his hand. "Plus, I like your lower back. My hand fits perfectly there, like it's supposed to be there." She didn't comment, which told him that she either rationally disagreed but liked the thought, or she actually agreed. Either way, her silence was a good sign. When she finally did choose to speak, it was to change the subject.

"What time are you picking up Parker tomorrow?" Booth was admittedly caught off-guard by the question. His partner was lying naked on his chest; his son was the last thing on his mind right now.

"I said I'd be there around one. Why?"

"I was just thinking that if you decide to stay tonight, we'll have to go out for breakfast." Booth's heart overflowed as he realized what she was really asking. "I don't have much right now. I was supposed to go grocery shopping this afternoon, but Angela needed help with the party so I stayed later and..."

"Bones." He said, shifting so he could see her face. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You're not." She said.

"No!" He said definitively, slightly offended that she would even think otherwise.

"Okay." She said, getting the point. "I didn't want to assume. We haven't set any parameters."

"I'll tell you what, you can assume that now that I finally get to touch you, I'm going to take advantage of every," he paused to kiss her "single," another kiss "opportunity." She reached up and held him still for their last kiss, subtly sliding over him until she was lying on top of him.

"I think those are satisfactory terms." She grinned against his lips. And for once, they were on the same page.


End file.
